Hard-rock mythical creatures

Nightseeker is more than a simple rock quintet, with a gremlin band member and a magical namesake who helps you find lost items

Deaner describes a Nighseeker show as a roller coaster that often leaves fans with a “bangover” the next morning.

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Montreal-based actor Paul Spence answered, but he quickly handed the phone off to Deaner — his Albertan alter-ego.

Deaner, who became famous in the two Fubar mockumentaries, is currently on tour with his band Nightseeker.

“The Nightseeker is a mythical creature and it’s the helper of finding lost items,” Deaner said. “They sort of conjure up the Nightseeker by tapping an oak staff seven times and chanting his name over and over. And then he’ll appear and then you tell him what it was you lost and then he’ll go get it.”

The hard-rock quintet formed in Calgary, where Deaner put up posters at the local Tim Hortons. Unfortunately he found older band members who were pre-occupied with “kids and marriages and shit.” Deaner said he had to resort to looking in unusual places for bandmates.

“I found one guy in the forest, basically he’s like all curled up in a ball and I thought he was a little baby,” he said. “But it turns out he was like a little gremlin. I don’t know it just seems like our drummer, we bought a drum kit and the drummer came with it at the pawn shop … the other guitar player, he rode in on a lightning bolt.”

Deaner described the band’s sound as mixing AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden.

“I only write rock songs,” he said. “If I heard some sort of other song you know that influenced me from some goofball’s car radio, like I ain’t gonna write a pop song or some sort of bubble gum crap.”

Deaner’s writing process, like all other aspects of Nightseeker, is unique.

“You just lie straight on, preferably concrete if you got it, because it’s kind of earthy,” he said. “Then you just kind of close your eyes …. I play bass you know so there’s always, I’m hearing pulsations.”

According to Deaner, he doesn’t have any concrete in his own house so he has to rely on friends to supply concrete floors.

“I got a buddy who’s got a sweet basement,” he said. “I just go over there sometimes. He leaves the window open in the basement so I can just crawl in anytime I want.”

An album is in the works for Nightseeker, but they are also hoping to create a cooking show — though it won’t be anything like the shows currently on TV.

“It’s always been my dream to sort of, all these chefs are all fancy,” Deaner said. “There’s a lot more easier ways to cook in the kitchen. The first and only ingredient sometimes is beer. You can make a meal with just beer.”

Deaner hopes the cooking show will include interludes from Nightseeker as the food cooks in the oven. But until their cooking show pitch is picked up by a network, Deaner is excited to head to Kingston.

“It’s the King’s town,” he said. “I’m going to go check out where the king took a piss and where he got loaded, maybe try on his robes.”

After I hung up and recovered from my laughter, I realized I had just spent 15 minutes talking to a fictional character — or more accurately a mythical creature.

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